Time to Upgrade

Jeff Zucker, MyDirectives CEO and co-founder, recently discussed in the New York Times how digital advance medical directives can solve lots of the challenges that for decades, we’ve seen in the paper-based world. He was responding to a piece by well-known critical and palliative care physician Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitters. She had expressed concerns about how paper directives that had not been updated can cause problems and confusion for doctors, nurses and the family. Jeff reinforces the need for easily updatable, always accessible, digital advance care plans in order for medical professionals to do their best work and understand something about the person they are treating.

MyDirectives.com and MyDirectives MOBILE help people make sure their voices and choices can be heard in case of a health crisis. Because it’s as simple as signing in, people can update their directive’s contact names, phone numbers and important information that could be hard to remember in an emergency. Keeping it updated makes it more valuable to you and your doctors. Thanks to Apple, you can sync your directive to your iPhone’s Medical ID and even put some key features in front of your phone’s lock screen so in an emergency, a paramedic, doctor or family member could access it even if your phone is locked.

Dr. Nutik Zitter shared her story “Patient Autonomy Gone Wrong,” about “Vincent,” whose medical wishes were known to his doctors only through a 10-year-old paper directive.

Rather than experience the uncertainty that Vincent and his doctor faced, do yourself a favor and approach the conversation about emergency care priorities with the best tools to make sure your voice can be used to make a difference. It is important that our directives reflect our most up-to date wishes based on where we are in life. Using MyDirectives is a great way to start.